Catholic Conference of Ohio

Monday, October 2, 2023

Our Purpose

The Conference represents the Church's position before the Ohio General Assembly, various state departments, bureaus, agencies and other organizations. The Conference also provides facilitation, coordination and joint programming for diocesan groups involved in various Church ministries.

Our History

Established in 1945, the Catholic Conference of Ohio is the second oldest state bishops' conference in the United States (New York was the first). Originally known as the Ohio Catholic Welfare Conference, the Conference was given its present name by the bishops of Ohio in 1967.

There now are Catholic Conferences similar to Ohio's in forty-two states.

Governance

The policies and activities of the Catholic Conference are governed by a Board of Directors, comprised of every Roman Catholic Bishop exercising jurisdiction in Ohio, as well as the Bishops of the Parma Byzantine Eparchy, Romanian Catholic Diocese of Canton, and Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Parma. 

The Archbishop of Cincinnati, as head of the Province of Cincinnati (the territory of the State of Ohio), acts as chairman of the Board of Directors.

View Bishops & Staff

Departments

There are four departments within the Catholic Conference of Ohio. They are:

Administrative Services, Education, Health Affairs, Social Concerns

Departmental membership includes clergy, religious, and laypersons engaged in related activities from each of the dioceses of Ohio. These groups elect their own chairpersons and other officers as needed. A staff person is assigned by the Conference for each of these departments.

View All Departments

Download Informational Flyer

Catholic Conference of Ohio's Informational Flyer (Updated 1/21)

 

The Catholic Church in Ohio

As of January 2020, Catholic parishioners represented almost 16% of the population of the State of Ohio. The Catholic Conference exists to represent their interests in state government. Some other statistics about the Church in Ohio include:

  2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Total Ohio Population 11,537,299 11,282,312 11,288,817 11,570,622 11,609,309 11,618,058 11,631,857 11,669,281
Catholics  2,001,256 1,976,989 1,964,274 1,950,075 1,944,138 1,919,053 1,893,305 1,825,572
Priests 1,662 1,652 1,608 1,599 1,554 1,512 1,486 1,064
Sisters 2,906 2,759 2,662 2,744 2,528 2,423 2,304 2,330
Brothers 199 205 204 204 169 161 158 153
Deacons 799 801 814 809 790 812 835 811
Parishes 772 776 773 770 768 766 766 762
Hospital Facilities 35 35 36 36 36 36 36 36
Healthcare Persons Assisted       5,488,029 5,337,932 5,640,439 5,867,202 5,343,344
Social Service Agencies 76 76 76  75 79 71 66 66
Persons Assisted Social Services        817,255 961,585 867,408 884,406 884,406
Cemeteries 190 190 190  190 190 190 190 190
Colleges/Universities 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14
Catholic K-12 Schools 401 401 385  380 376 373 374 374
Students in K-12 Schools         118,359 116,559 114,445 111,984
Students in Religious Education 120,869 114,298 98,905 97,058 99,518 90,927 90,004 87,148